Be brave

Be brave. A phrase not often heard, but very much needed as a writer.  While I’m never jumping from a plane or balancing on a high wire (actually never ever doing either of those), each time I sit down to write I feel like I’m bearing my soul. Writing is so much more than words on a page. It’s heart and creativity and soul all mixed into characters and adventures.  When I share my writing with my agent, my crit group, an editor, a friend or my family, I’m sharing a piece of me.  A big chunk of me. In between all those words and under all those characters are emotions I’ve experienced in some form at some time in my life. To me, it’s like standing in front of a group of complete strangers naked.  Not one shred of clothes to hide behind.  Baring it all.  (Not that I’m every actually doing that! So my family can now exhale.) That’s what it feels like to hand over my words and characters and story to someone to read.

This need for bravery, is what I believe makes writing for children so authentic. Children in elementary, middle and high school need to be brave every single day.  Finding a lunch table, taking a test, trying out for the play, fitting in, connecting with others.  Every moment of every day they need to dig deep, and find the courage to just be who they are. The guppies swimming in my stomach when I wonder if what I’ve written makes sense, hooks the reader, is true to the character or is just plain old terrible, are the same guppies swimming in my readers’ stomachs when they walk into the cafeteria and don’t know where to sit.  It’s this shared uncertainty and need for bravery that keeps me feeling connected and true to my readers.

So, to all those writing or in search of a lunch table, be brave. We’ve totally got this!

What I’m reading now: Small as an Elephant by Jennifer Jacobson